• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.220-237
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• 2020

Modern electrochemical energy devices involve generation and reduction of fuel gases through electrochemical reactions of water splitting, alcohol oxidation, oxygen reduction, etc. Initially, these processes were executed in the presence of noble metal-based catalyst that showed low overpotential and high current density. However, its high cost, unavailability, corrosion and related toxicity limited its application. The search for alternative with high stability, durability, and efficiency led scientists towards carbon nanoparticles supported catalysts which has high surface area, good electrical conductivity, tunable morphology, low cost, ease of synthesis and stability. Carbon nanoparticles are classified into two groups based on morphology, one and zero dimensional particles. Carbon nanoparticles at zero dimension, denoted as carbon dots, are less used carbon support compared to other forms. However, recently carbon dots with improved electronic properties have become popular as catalyst as well as catalyst support. This review focused on the recent advances in electrocatalytic activities of carbon dots. The mechanisms of common electrocatalytic reactions and the role of the catalysts are also discussed. The review also proposed future developments and other research directions to overcome current limitations.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제68권2호
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• pp.87-92
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• 2024

The commercialization of rechargeable metal-air batteries is extremely desirable but designing stable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with non-noble metal still has faced challenges to replace platinum-based catalysts. The nonnoble metal catalysts for ORR were prepared to improve the catalytic performance and stability by the thermal decomposition of ZIF-8 with optimum cobalt loading. The porous carbon was obtained by the calcination of ZIF-8 and different loading amounts of Co nanoparticles were anchored onto porous carbon forming a Co/PC catalyst. Co/PC composite shows a significant increase in the ORR value of current and stability (500 h) due to the good electronic conductive PCN support and optimum cobalt metal loading. The significantly improved catalytic performance is ascribed to the chemical structure, synergistic effects, porous carbon networks, and rich active sites. This method develops a new pathway for a highly active and advantageous catalyst for electrochemical devices.

• Clean Technology
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.55-61
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• 2024

Efforts are actively underway to address the issues related to the high cost of Pt-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions by designing high-performance Pt-based alloys through the control of their nanostructures. In this study, a method was proposed to control the nanostructure of Pt-based alloys, either hollow or core-shell, by adjusting the pH of the solution during the galvanic replacement reaction between the carbon-supported nickel-nickel nitride composite and the Pt ions. The physical characteristics, including the state, quantity, and morphology of the metal particles under different preparation conditions, were evaluated through X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and inductively coupled plasma. When the prepared catalysts were employed for the oxygen reduction reaction, they exhibited an improvement in area specific-activity compared to a commercial Pt/C, with a 1.7 and 1.9-fold enhancement for the hollow and core-shell structured catalysts, respectively.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.368-376
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• 2020

In this study, an analysis on the reaction characteristics of a catalyst using platinum (Pt) as an active oxidation metal catalyst for controlling SO₂ was performed. Pt/TiO₂ catalyst was prepared by using Pt as various precursor forms on a titania (TiO₂) support, and used for the experiment. There was no difference in performance of SO₂ oxidation according to Pt valence states such as Pt²⁺ or Pt⁴⁺ on Pt/TiO₂, and Pt chloride species such as PtCl_x reduces SO₂ oxidation performance. In addition, as a result of analyzing the valence state of the catalyst before and after the SO₂ oxidation reaction by XPS analysis, a decrease in lattice oxygen and an increase in surface chemisorbed oxygen after the SO₂ oxidation reaction were confirmed. Therefore it can be suggested that the oxidation reaction of SO₂ when using the Pt/TiO₂ catalyst is the major one following the Mar-Van Krevelen mechanism where the reaction of lattice oxygen corresponding to PtOx and the oxidation-reduction reaction by oxygen vacancy occur. Overall, it can be confirmed that the oxygen species of PtOx (Pt²⁺ or Pt⁴⁺) present on the catalyst acts as a major active site.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• 제47권7호
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• pp.454-459
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• 2009

In order to commercialize Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC), the cathode catalyst such as Platinum supported Carbon (Pt/C) need to have a high activity of Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR). In this study, the 20% Pt/C was synthesized using the chemical reduction method while the crystallinity of Platinum (Pt) particles were controlled under heat treatment conditions. The activity of synthesized Pt catalysts was evaluated using electrochemical measurement. Compared with the $i_{ORR}$ at 0.8 V of 20% Pt/C heat-treated at $500^{\circ}C$ and the 20% Pt/C that were not heated and commercial 20% Pt/C, the $i_{ORR}$ at 0.8 V of 20% Pt/C heattreated at $500^{\circ}C$ was 9.5 and 1.7 times higher than those of the 20% Pt/C and commercial 20% Pt/C that were not heated. It was considered that the crystallinity and particle size affect the ORR activity of the Pt/C catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.182-188
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• 2018

Nitrogen (N)-doped protein-based carbon as platinum (Pt) catalyst supports from tofu for oxygen reduction reactions are synthesized using a carbonization and reduction method. We successfully prepare 5 wt% Pt@N-doped protein-based carbon, 10 wt% Pt@N-doped protein-based carbon, and 20 wt% Pt@N-doped protein-based carbon. The morphology and structure of the samples are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron micro scopy, and crystllinities and chemical bonding are identified using X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The oxygen reduction reaction are measured using a linear sweep voltammogram and cyclic voltammetry. Among the samples, 10 wt% Pt@N-doped protein-based carbon exhibits exellent electrochemical performance with a high onset potential of 0.62 V, a high $E_{1/2}$ of 0.55 V, and a low ${\Delta}E_{1/2}=0.32mV$. Specifically, as compared to the commercial Pt/C, the 10 wt% Pt@N-doped protein-based carbon had a similar oxygen reduction reaction perfomance and improved electrochemical stability.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제17권3호
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• pp.201-208
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• 2014

A Pt catalyst ($Pt/G_xC_y$) supported on the hybrid supporting materials composed of graphene oxide (GO) and carbon black (C) was fabricated using polyol method to improve the durability of electrocatalysts. The electrochemical performances measured by cyclic voltammograms using three-electrode system revealed that the properly designed $Pt/G_xC_y$ catalyst exhibited higher durability than that of Pt/C catalyst without sacrificing an electrocatalytic acivity. In the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performed in acid solution with the rotating disk electrode, the $Pt/G_xC_y$ catalyst showed greater mass and area-specific activity than those of Pt/C catalyst.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• 제28권11호
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• pp.646-652
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• 2018

During a long-term operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs), the fuel cell performance may degrade due to severe agglomeration and dissolution of metal nanoparticles in the cathode. To enhance the electrochemical durability of metal catalysts and to prevent the particle agglomeration in PEMFC operation, this paper proposes a hybrid catalyst structure composed of PtCo alloy nanoparticles encapsulated by porous carbon layers. In the hybrid catalyst structure, the dissolution and migration of PtCo nanoparticles can be effectively prevented by protective carbon shells. In addition, $O_2$ can properly penetrate the porous carbon layers and react on the active Pt surface, which ensures high catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. Although the hybrid catalyst has a much smaller active surface area due to the carbon encapsulation compared to a commercial Pt catalyst without a carbon layer, it has a much higher specific activity and significantly improved durability than the Pt catalyst. Therefore, it is expected that the designed hybrid catalyst concept will provide an interesting strategy for development of high-performance fuel cell catalysts.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.12-18
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• 2012

The prohibitively high cost of Pt catalyst might be the biggest barrier for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) of which wide application is expected. Worldwide research efforts for the development of alternative to Pt oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst are made recently. One of the important considerations in the catalyst development is durability issue as well as economic aspect. From this point of view, platinum group metals (PGM) except Pt can be a candidate for replacing Pt catalyst because the material properties and the catalytic activity of PGM are expected to be similar to Pt. In contrast to Ir, Rh and Os to which not so much attention has been paid as an ORR catalyst, Pd that is most similar to Pt in terms of material properties and catalytic activity and Ru that is in the form of chalcogenide have been studied intensively. Activity comparison between non-Pt and Pt oxygen reduction catalysts by half cell test using RDE (rotating disk electrode) or PEMFC MEA (membrane electrode assembly) operation indicates that Pd-based catalysts show the most similar activity to Pt. In this paper we analyze the composition of PGM ORR catalyst in literature to promote the development of non-Pt ORR catalyst.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.260-266
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• 2018

To enhance catalyst activity of the palladium (Pd) towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), iridium (Ir) and yttrium (Y) were alloyed by polyol method. Due to the low reduction potential of Y, it is hard to reduce Y ion completely by polyol method. In XPS spectra, the binding energy of the Pd is shifted to a lower value, which indicates the d-electron of Pd is filled by the electron from the Y. And other phases of Y are observed by the XPS. Among the catalysts, the $Pd_4IrY_{0.1}/C$ showed the best activity towards ORR, which indicates the metallic Y is effective for improving the catalytic activity. Thus, for further enhancing ORR activity, the novel method for complete reduction of Y is needed.